Vocaboly.com

[Troy Daley]

Hi there-

I need to tell someone about this.

My wife's student loans are owned by Sallie Mae. The past year has
been a complete nightmare. I've been paying them for years
automatically, through my bank, so there's little room for error on my
part.

Recently, I logged on to Sallie Mae's site and noticed that I'd
accumulated 60 dollars in overdue payments that were causing me to pay
late fees. I called and they said they emailed me that my payments had
increased 6 months prior. Of course, I didn't get their email because
my spam filter killed it since they also send me tons of consolidation
spam (even though my loans ARE consolidated). I also had a payment
book that explained what my payments were for the whole year. I tried
to explain but they could have cared less. They got away with all my
late fees and I finally paid off the difference because I was tired of
dealing with them.

So I told them I wanted regular mail notification from that point on,
and I immediately got a letter saying that miscalculated my interest
payments and my payments were increasing yet again. Now they
constantly hound me about signing up for email notifications!

And finally, the last straw. A week ago, I got a letter complaining
that I was 18 days overdue. I checked it out, they completely failed
to register my February payment and had misinterpreted my March payment
as a late February payment! I called (again) and was told to fax all
of my information, so I sent bits of my bank statement showing the
payment. I called again and they said they got the fax, no problems
and that it would be fixed in 3-5 days. Well, 5 days later I called
and they said I did not send the canceled check (which I didn't have at
the time, but I have now) and that I need to send that to them too and
wait 3-5 days. It's a complete nightmare. So I sent them the canceled
check with a legal looking letter explaining that I consider my account
in dispute and that no further payments will be sent until the matter
is resolved to my satisfaction. Other than that, I have no recourse but
to wait.

I can't help but think that this is fraud. Mistake after mistake with
Sallie Mae and the have not once corrected any mistakes that they have
made or even conveyed any apology for what they have done. I've spent
countless hours trying to make sure I'm not ripped off by these
thieves. I wish I could send them a bill! What can I do about it?

Troy

[finaidlawyer]

If you have a friend that is a lawyer they might help. Some states
recognize a tort action for misapplication of payments so my advice is
to get legal advice from an attorney.

~Mark

[tfandango]

thanks! I'll will do that!

[finaidlawyer1]

If you are having a problem with the way your student loan payments are being allocated I think I might have some information that may help you. Send me a message at eric_lacerte@hotmail.com.

[ACTION]

troy, please contact me @ action1616@aol.com......... I have tried to relay to every company representative that I think my situation is some type of inside employee scam tactics in effect. my next move is to contact the f.b.i.

[vctr_york]

I know this is kind of an old post but I just wanted to say that I'm not surprised at all. Sallie Mae was recently slammed in the blogsphere for a big buy-out that the bigwigs profited from considerably...it's really a shame that the school loan system is so corrupt, since there's no other way to getting an education in this country. I consolidated with the Educational Loan Company and haven't had too many issues -- but I mainly went with them because they have the lowest rate reductions at the moment (2.5% for good behavior). I got lucky in that they've had excellent customer service as well, I didn't know how wide the spectrum is with these companies. The lesson here, I guess, is to really do the research when you can, and hope for some reform!!

[Lawyergirl]

I have sent two letters to them advising that they misapplied my monies to my loans. I send them well over the minimum due and they applied it to private loans and not federal so now they are saying the federal loans are in default. UGH... and the morons on the phone have no clue and just utter the company line. I have warned them that they must communicate with me in writing and if they do not, they are violating the Federal Fair Credit Act. In addition, last I looked, Sallie Mae had lost its ability/corporate status in Florida and I asked them to please explain how they intended to collect a debt when they were not licensed in Fla. They acknowledged my letter with "we are investigating". Yet, they still call.
Anyone have any hints? something else I can do. Thanks and good luck to you
_________________
MKM Lawyer